Advent Children: A Novelization
by The Eternal Dream
Summary: Two years have passed and the ruins of Midgar stand as a testament to the sacrifices made in order to bring peace. However, the world will soon face a new menace. A mysterious illness is spreading fast. Old enemies are astir. FFVII:AC novelization project


Summary: Two years have passed and the ruins of Midgar stand as a testament to the sacrifices made in order to bring peace. However, the world will soon face a new menace. A mysterious illness is spreading fast. Old enemies are astir. And Cloud, who walked away from the life of a hero to live in solitude, must step forward yet again.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This work has not been endorsed by Square Enix or any of the others holding copyright or license to the Final Fantasy games, movies, and products. No connection is implied or should be inferred. Other names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author receives no financial gain from its production or distribution.

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**Advent Children**_  
Chapter I_

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_To those who loved this world  
__And knew friendly company therein:  
This Reunion is for you._

Bright sunlight beamed down on a dry, sandy canyon. Its walls are rough and broken—more hills than walls, really. It seemed a desolate place, untouched by time, forgotten by life.

And yet three beings dared to trespass on this barren land: sleek red lions with flaming tails. They were of a species whose name had long since been forgotten, despite their rather distinctive appearance.

The first of the three was by far the oldest and quite clearly the leader. His short, crimson fur was threaded with white due to age, though it made him look distinct rather than old. Feathers were intertwined through his dark mane and metal cuffs decorated his ankles, giving him a rather wild look. But what stood out above all were the various designs branded onto his fur, in particular the _XIII_ on his left shoulder.

A memento of another time, best left forgotten. Despite this, the mark gave him a name known to most: Red XIII. To those who knew him well, however, he was Nanaki.

Behind Nanaki ran two cubs who stood not even half as tall as he and were only a fraction of his size. Despite this, they matched him almost stride for stride and wore expressions of determination that were identical to his own. They minded not the hot sun shining above, nor the scorching sands below their paws. There was only _forward_.

After many miles of running, the three finally reached a great, rocky canyon wall—a dead end. Their pace never slowed despite this seemingly impassible obstacle, nor did they show any hesitation. Instead they ran straight at the wall, and then—

—Up. Leading the way, Nanaki bounded from ledge to ledge with agility rarely seen in any other species and with a confidence that spoke of many long years of experience. The cubs followed him at a slower pace, unable to make quite the same giant leaps.

Finally Nanaki skidded to a stop at the top of the canyon wall. Spread out before him was a fantastic view: The ruins of a once great city now in the grasp of time and covered with green growth. Beyond the ruins was a large, crystalline lake and, past that, green hills for as far as the eye could see. For anyone it would be a breathtaking sight, but to one such as Nanaki who had witnessed what had conspired there so long ago, it truly was a hope-inspiring display.

Nanaki glanced back briefly to make sure that the cubs had made the climb safely. Once they landed behind him, his head pulled back around to the ruins and let loose an earth-shaking roar that echoed for miles before finally becoming lost to the peaceful silence that blanketed the land.

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_498 Years Earlier  
Northern Cave_

Harsh snow pelted from dense, stormy clouds, seemingly unceasingly. Occasionally a bright flash of lightning would slice through the sky, splitting the atmosphere with an angry bellow. Far below a great crater jutted from the earth. Its crags looked to be reaching towards the heavens with malicious, misshapen hands.

Through this treacherous panorama the quick whirling of helicopter blades could be heard. Indeed, a chopper was circling above the crater in slow laps. Even though it was being bombarded with snow, rain, hail, and Gaia-knew what else, it stayed steady. On its side the crimson Shinra Electric Power Company logo stood out in sharp contrast to its gray surroundings.

Inside of the helicopter sat Reno, a lean man with long, spiky red hair that was pulled back into a loose ponytail. There was a pair of black goggles resting on his forehead and a headset was secured tightly over his ears. Everything about him, from his messy suit, to his slumped position, to the red crescent-shaped tattoos on his cheeks screamed of his laid back demeanor. He did, however, pilot the helicopter with a lazy confidence that spoke of experience.

The radio in the helicopter crackled for a moment before a woman's voice—that of his colleague, Elena—erupted over the airwaves. "Tseng!" she called eagerly. "Look at this."

"Hmm?" It was a man this time. Tseng, his boss, Reno knew. There was a long pause, and then, "Pay dirt."

"Not a pretty sight, is it?" Elena commented softly.

Reno couldn't help but be curious and wonder what his fellow Turks had come across. The only way such a desire was shown in his body language, however, was a quick tapping of the fingers of his free hand—the other was occupied with flying the helicopter. His lips pursed slightly and then he scoffed aloud.

"Who cares?" he muttered. "Just get the damn thing."

"Reno," Tseng said sharply. Even though Reno knew that the Wutanese man hadn't heard his comment, his shoulders stiffened momentarily with suspicion anyway. "The chopper."

The redhead blinked and then relaxed. "You got it," he replied. Both of his hands tightly gripped the helicopter's controls and then pulled to the right, easing the vehicle down into the opaque mist that swirled around the crater's opening.

As Reno descended into the crater however, the distinct cracks of gunshots rang out over the radio. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he yelped, surprised. Who else was down there?!

"Reno, hurry!" Elena yelled, sounding panicked.

The Turk sped up his descent, causing the helicopter to land more violently than usual. "Reno!" Elena called as she ran up to the helicopter. The cylindrical black box they'd brought with them was tucked under her arm and Tseng was nowhere in sight.

What really caught Reno's attention though was the faint form of a man with short silver hair chasing after Elena. "Who the hell is that?!"

Even as Reno watched, the unknown man raised his gun and pulled the trigger. This time his bullet hit its mark and Elena gasped and stumbled, only a few feet from the helicopter.

"Elena!" Reno yelled desperately. This wasn't supposed to happen! There wasn't supposed to be anyone else here!

Elena was leaning heavily against the side of the helicopter with one hand pressed to her side. Reno kicked the door open and reached out to her, but she just shoved the black container into his hands, causing something to slosh around inside as she did so.

"G-get out!" she choked.

Reno snarled silently, torn between helping his comrade and completing the mission. In the end, the knowledge that if they'd found something then they couldn't let it fall into enemy hands won over. And besides, Elena was already running away from the helicopter, searching for cover. He snarled aloud again.

"_Dammit!_"

The redhead slammed the door closed and haphazardly tossed the container onto the empty passenger seat. With both hands back on the control, he lifted the chopper back into the air. As it gained altitude, more gunshots rang out loudly over the radio. He winced at each one and almost bit a hole through his lip when the radio crackled and then abruptly died.

Alone, he rose up through the churning mist.

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Edge was an ever-growing city just on the outskirts of the Midgar ruins. Thousands of people crowded its streets and filled its buildings—survivors of the meteor event. The skeletal remains of Shinra Tower itself could be seen from the city, a constant reminder of what power had done to their way of life. The people of Edge wanted no such repeat of the events that had occurred just two scant years ago.

In the center of the city was a great monument: A second reminder of the meteor. People swarmed past the monument everyday as they went about their lives. But that was just it—they _did _go about their lives. People mourned for those who'd been lost, but Edge was built, homes re-created, and life went on.

One such example of "rebuilding" was a bar called _7th Heaven_. Once just a small pub in the Midgar slums, it was now in a bustling location near the heart of Edge. In a small bedroom at the back of this bar, a young girl sat at the bedside of a boy with windswept brown hair. His eyes were clenched close tightly, as though he was in pain and a wet towel covered his forehead.

"Hey, Marlene, tell me again about how it began," the boy muttered after a moment. His breathing was harsh even though his voice was soft.

Sadness gleamed in Marlene's eyes. She nodded, even though the boy wasn't looking at the moment. "Of course, Denzel" she replied. "But where to begin?"

"The Lifestream," the boy said. A smile quirked at the edge of his lips for a moment before disappearing as quickly as it'd appeared. "It always comes down to the Lifestream, doesn't it?"

"The Lifestream," Marlene agreed. She breathed in deeply, gathering her thoughts. "The Lifestream. That's what we call the river of life that circles our planet, giving life to the world and everything in it. The Shinra Electric Power Company discovered a way to use the Lifestream as an energy source. Because of Shinra's energy, we were able to live very comfortable lives. But wasn't that because we were taking away from the planet's life? A lot of people thought so.

"Shinra used their power to try and stop anybody who got in their way. Shinra had a special group of warriors called SOLDIER. And all of the SOLDIERs had Jenova cells put inside them. Jenova was a calamity that fell from the sky a long, long time ago and tried to destroy the planet.

"Anyway, there was one SOLDIER named Sephiroth who was better than the rest." Marlene hesitated for a moment here. When she continued, there was a slight quaver in her voice. "But when he found out about the terrible experiments that made him he began to hate Shinra. And then, over time, he began to hate everything.

"Shinra and the people against them. Sephiroth, who hated the planet so much he wanted to make it go away. And the people who tried to stop him..." She smiled softly. "There were a lot of battles. For every battle, there was more sadness. Someone I love went back to the Lifestream too.

"And then, it came. The chosen day. In the end, the planet itself had to make the battles stop for good. The planet used the Lifestream as a weapon and when it burst out of the earth, all the fighting, all the greed and sadness, everything was washed away."

"Mmm," Denzel agreed with a hum. "Washed away by the Lifestream...But was that any kinder than being killed by the meteor? People still died."

Marlene fell silent for a few seconds. "'Sadness was the price to see it end.'," she said finally. "It's been two years since they told me that..."

She glanced up at Denzel, noticing that his face had drained of tension. He looked like he was asleep now, but she could tell from his breathing that he wasn't. Regardless, she was glad that he'd finally relaxed.

"But..." Marlene's gaze soften again as she stared at the towel on Denzel's forehead. "It looks like the planet was a lot madder than we thought."

Denzel opened his eyes and glanced over at Marlene. The movement dislodged the towel, causing to drop onto the bed next to his pillow and revealing a blackish bruise.

Marlene's eyes were wet with unshed tears. "They call it geostigma," she murmured to herself.

The young boy lifted a hand to the mark, but didn't touch it. "Well, Marlene? How does it look?" he asked.

She smiled gently, but did not answer. Instead she stood up and replaced the towel over the geostigma.

_Please. Please don't take Denzel away._

On a bridge outside the time-stained statue of an angel stared down solemnly.

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In the front room of the 7th Heaven bar the loud ringing of a phone pierced through the near-silent air. Tifa, a dark haired woman in her earlier twenties and the current owner of the establishment, stood behind the bar, washing glasses. The bar itself was devoid of customers, early in the day as it was, and high above the ceiling fans turned lazily.

Again, the phone rang. Tifa made no move to answer it. She picked up another glass from the counter and as she dunked it in the sink, the pink ribbon tied around her left bicep swung gently.

"He's not here anymore," she sighed in reply to a third ring. It was Cloud's office phone that was ringing, after all.

Still the caller persisted. With a short quirk of a smile, Tifa swiftly dried her hands on the towel below the sink and strode toward the stairs that led to the second floor. She paused for a moment in front of the short set of steps that led up to Denzel's room and placed both of her hands on her hips.

In his bed the sick boy groaned and murmured, "Cloud, where are you?" Tifa silently repeated the question herself, wishing she knew the answer.

Tifa sighed and swung around to the door to Cloud's office. Technically it was his room as well, but of his "things" it held only an old, metal framed bed covered in a thin blanket. Tifa could count on one hand the number of times he'd slept in it in the past year. Other than that there were a few boxes scattered across the floor and a spare tire tossed haphazardly in one corner—a spare for his motorcycle.

More importantly, there was a small desk standing at the head of Cloud's bed. It was covered in papers relating to the business he now ran. Orders, mostly, though there were a few flyers mixed in. Numerous more were posted on the walls like some sort of chaotic wallpaper. Tifa ignored all of them now as she reached towards the ringing phone.

"Hello, Strife Delivery Service," Tifa answered. "You name it, we delive—..." She trailed off suddenly as the caller answered.

Tifa paused for a moment and placed her hand on her hip again. Her eyes fell down to the two main objects on the desk other than the phone: A half empty can of Amino-D energy drink that was Gaia only knew how old and a picture frame. The picture was the most recent one they had other their little "family", although Cloud stood apart from her, Marlene, and Denzel.

"May I ask who's calling?" she inquired. Again she paused, but this time whatever answer she got made her giggle. "Yeah," she agreed. "I remember _you_."

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A/N: So, basically, I decided that I wanted to do a bit of writing practice by novelizing a film. I chose to do AC because it's a film that I know for sure isn't based off a book and because while there are countless novelizations of the game, there are hardly any for AC. And thus, here we have it.

For the most part each chapter will correspond to a chapter of the movie and I'll try to keep it as true to the film as possible. The dialogue, for example is word for word from the film because ahead of time I write out a quick script of the film for each chapter and then write the chapter from there. Obviously, sometimes bits like the Marlene and Denzel scene is this one pop up where I'll have to do a bit of improvising in order to make it work in writing, but those will be few and far between.

Anyway, I never realized before writing this just how much information was given during the Northern Crater scene, if you just listen to the background noises. If you own a copy of AC, I recommend re-watching that part and paying close attention to the sounds; it's quite surprising. Actually, there are a lot of little things about AC that I never noticed before (such as just how bare Cloud's room was).

Much thanks to Sahxyel for beta'ing this project!

Please review and let me know what you think thus far!

[Eternal]


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